Progesterone Cream - Losing Hair!!! HELP!!!

by Tired of This Stuff!
(Moss Point, MS USA)

Can someone please comment on how much hair loss can be expected while undergoing progestrone cream therapy? I feel great, and am quickly losing weight - and quite frankly, i'd rather feel better & wear a wig, then to have a head full of hair & be estrogen dominant. But, this is my 2nd month of using progesterone cream, and since I started, I have been losing hair in MOUNDS!! I started with a pretty low dose of progesterone, and increadsed my dosage b/c my estrogen dominance symptoms were returning. I don't seem to be experiencing any increase in the amount of hair i'm losing, but it is still coming out with each shampoo; each daily combing; I mean to the point where it is coming out from the roots!

HELP!! What can I take to stop this, or do I just have to go through this viscious cycle to get to a point where I stablilize, and stop seeing the hair loss!!

HELP!!

~ Bald Headed, but Feeling Great :-)

Comments for Progesterone Cream - Losing Hair!!! HELP!!!

Hi there I have to agree with you, I would prefer to wear a wig than go through all that nonsense! On your other page here I replied to your query on the 13th Dec. On the 17th Dec you said you'd increased to 400mg/day, so that's 11 days ago. In fact you said about your other symptoms "Such dramatic changes in only 3 - 4 days!" Not much time for the increased amount of progesterone to reverse the damage to the hair follicles. The previous two months you were only using 20mg/day, enough to cause Hair Loss. This has probably stopped and new hair is growing back, but not only does that take time before there are any visible signs of it, the hair follicles that had previously been damaged, will still loose their hair, before new takes it's place. The hair loss page I've given you has a list of nutrients which help hair loss. Your other symptoms have improved remarkably quickly, I think you'll find the hair loss slows down soon. Particularly if you take those nutrients. Vitamin D is vital for the anagen phase of hair growth, please have that test done. Take care Wray

Jan 31, 2013

hair lossby: Anonymous

I am Vitamin D deficient. I am on medication for under active thyroid. I am already losing hair so I have been reluctant to try progesterone. Will progesterone accelerate the hair loss?

Feb 01, 2013

hair lossby: Wray

Hi there No progesterone doesn't accelerate hair loss. In fact most women when pregnant have wonderful hair. Please look at our page on Hair Loss for more info. If you are deficient in vitamin D this could be one reason for the hair loss. It could also be the case with the hypothyroidism too, a lack of vitamin affects the thyroid badly, see here,here,here and here. Finally a lack of vitamin D reduces the benefits of progesterone, see here,here and here. I'm not sure of your age, but we have number of pages you could look through, How to use progesterone cream,Peri-menopause and Menopause. Take care Wray

Mar 14, 2013

acne, hair lossby: Christina

PART 1Hi,I appreciate your website and all the help you offer women! I just turned 43 and have been getting an increase in acne for a few years. Right around ovulation and pretty much all the way through my cycle. Along the jaw line, by my ear lobes, chin, cheeks, forehead. Sometimes they come in the exact same spot each month and other times move around. I suffered from moderate acne as a teen and young adult but this is in different places than when I was young and larger mostly but not painful, and they last forever and can't be squeezed. They show up under my chin too and on my neck! They are hard and large and not always red. And they don't seem to go away. I'm talking months! I have also had a bout of hair loss in 2008 when I was 38 after putting the mirena IUD which has a small release of progesterone from it.I started to lose massive amounts of hair after about 5 months on it. I took it out and now use the non hormonal copper IUD since then. My hairloss got better over time but has never grown back really. So I currently have thinning hair, this weird acne, which i also get pimples on my scalp just back from the hairline every month. They are red and have clear pus in them. I can get a few on each side. I previously suffered from melasma starting at around 33. I was on hormonal birth control pills the whole time until I switched to the IUD at 38 and it took about 2 years for it to mostly clear up. I have pretty regular periods, about every 26- 29 days. Average is 28. I don't have hot flashes or night sweats. My mood is good, no pms, have cold hands and feet but always have my whole life. I don't have insomnia but I awake briefly several times a night. No trouble falling asleep though. I eat well, don't eat too much dairy, maybe a plain yogurt here and there or raw kefir. the occasional slice of cheese. I crave sweets and always have but try to be concious about what I eat and keep my sugar intake low. I eat a lot of healthy veggies and foods. Take a variety of supplements including 5000 D, evening primrose, krill oil, probiotics etc. I exercise regularly and am 5'8 128pds. Please see PART 2

Mar 14, 2013

acne, hair loss PART 2by: Christina

I have been diagnosed as hypothyroid and after an ultrasound it showed I have a goiter on my thyroid. This could be hereditary because many members in my family have this problem. One big complaint I have from it is fatigue. Not a ton of energy and I fight it. I sleep enough and still exercise but I still feel more tired than normal. I tried adding iodine to my diet and the acne increased so can't do that. I started taking Vitex for half the month. Starting at the first day of my period until ovulation and then Dr. Lee's progesterone the next half until the day before my period. I only use about 20mg/day once a day. I have been doing this amount of progesterone for about 6 months and the vitex about 2 months. Still having the acne and hair is still thinning with pimples at the scalp hairline. Do you have any suggestions or advice with what I am doing or what I need to change? I just order two tubes of Napro. I really appreciate any help you can offer. Thank you!

Best,

Christina

Mar 16, 2013

acne, hair lossby: Wray

Hi Christina Thanks for the kind words about the site. From about age 35 we begin getting anovulatory cycles in which we make no progesterone. Symptoms can increase at ovulation too, as oestrogen rises exponentially about 50 hours beforehand, with a further surge 12 hours before. Progesterone should also rise exponentially in those 50 hrs. This surge comes from the brain, see here,here,here and here. Unless there is the progesterone surge too, there is nothing to counter the oestrogen effect. This explains why many women get migraines, seizures, palpitations, panic attacks and asthma attacks around ovulation. The same reasoning can be applied to the symptoms that occur during progesterone withdrawal prior to bleeding. And if ovulattion hasn't occurred in that month, or the corpus luteum is secreting too little, adverse symptoms can continue throughout the luteal phase. High testosterone initiates Acne, see here. If bound to SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) testosterone becomes inactive, progesterone raises levels of SHBG, see here, so preventing the rise of free testosterone and severe PMS. SHBG drops if sugars are eaten, even those found in all grains, legumes, processed milk and sweet starchy fruits and vegetables. Fructose, sucrose and glucose, reduce SHBG by 80, 50 and 40% respectively, see here. Thereby allowing testosterone to rise. It's best to avoid all the foods and sugars mentioned. Wine and beers contain carbs, so it's best to avoid those too. Plus alcohol affects hormone levels in women, see here and here. It decreases progesterone levels and increases androgen levels, both the total testosterone and free testosterone become higher. Continued below

Mar 16, 2013

acne, hair loss part 2by: Wray

Hi Christina Testosterone is notorious at increasing visceral fat, which causes abdominal fat gain, see here and here. The lowered progesterone, higher testosterone probably accounts for the increased risk in breast cancer risk among women, see here and here. Higher testosterone is also associated with an increased risk for Insulin Resistance and heart disease, see here. Sugars and large meals also drop progesterone levels, see here. Plus insulin drops levels too, see here. This means SHBG also drops, testosterone rises, another vicious cycle. I'm delighted to hear you had the Mirena out, one of the worst forms of Contraceptive. You're not alone in the Hair Loss either, please see this page here. Oestrogen does destabilise blood glucose, see here. It could be you don't need iodine, but please have a test done for it, or did they check it? A lack of vitamin D affects the thyroid badly, please have a test done, see here,here,here,here,here and here. It could be the same for other members of your family too. Plus a lack of vitamin D reduces the benefits of progesterone. Continued below

Mar 16, 2013

acne, hair loss Part 3by: Wray

Hi Christina Progesterone should be used a minimum of twice a day, and I feel you will need at least 100mg/day if not 200mg/day. It is trial and error. There's more info on our pages about How to use progesterone cream and Peri-menopause. Agnus castus has been used for many problems which women suffer from, PMS, mastalgia, menstrual irregularities, fibrocystic breasts, reducing prolactin, increasing lactation and more, see here. It can also reduce prolactin levels, prolactin is an inflammatory hormone and can cause tender breasts, see here, and luteal phase dysfunction, with subsequent problems in embryo implantation, see here. But because it has a mild oestrogenic action, levels of 17 beta-oestradiol can increase. One study found mild ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome occurred in the luteal phase, see here. Unless you find it's helping, I don't think you need it. Take care Wray

Although this web site is not intended to be prescriptive, it is intended, and hoped, that it will induce in you a sufficient level of scepticism about some health care practices to impel you to seek out medical advice that is not captive to purely commercial interests, or blinded by academic and institutional hubris. You are encouraged to refer any health problem to a health care practitioner and, in reference to any information contained in this web site, preferably one with specific knowledge of progesterone therapy.